Spinner type chance device simulating a toy telephone



April 7, 1964 H. STAN 3,128,099

SPINNER TYPE CHANCE DEVICE SIMULATING A TOY TELEPHONE Filed Sept. 12. 1961 K M amwxw g -w United States Patent 3,128,099 P1NNER TYPE CHANCE DEVECE SIMULATHNG A TGY TELEPHONE Henry Stan, Chicago, 111., assignor, by mesne assiglments,

to Marvin Glass and Associates, Chicago, 111., a

partnership Filed Sept. 12, 1961, Ser. No. 137,617 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-142) This invention relates to toys, and in particular to a toy game device which operates, at random, to indicate any one of several messages controlling or affecting the progress or success of a contestant in a game.

Games in which the progress or success of a contestant are determined to a greater or lesser extent by chance have always been popular. The variety of devices available for randomly determining the outcome of a contestants play is limited, however, and a relative few of these devices are used to provide the factor of chance in the greater percentage of games. This lack of variety tends to make such games quite similar to one another and lessens the interest which any one game is capable of affording.

Furthermore, the chance selection devices presently available have no relation to the atmosphere which the game attempts to create. For example, various games now on the market involving real estate transactions use the throw of one or more dice to determine the progress of a contestant. 0f course, the dice have no connection with real estate and are therefore incapable of adding any realism to the game itself.

This invention provides a device for use in games involving an element of chance. Disclosed herein is a specific embodiment which is particularly adapted for use in a personality-rating game involving imaginary social contact between the contestants. The game is played with a deck of cards, one of which is drawn by each contestant in turn. Each card directs the contestant to perform a particular task, as for example, the obtaining of a date from an eligible boy or girl. The success or failure of the contestant in the performance of the task, and hence his popularity, is determined by chance. If he is successful, he is awarded a number of popularity-points; if he fails, he must wait for another opportunity to prove his popularity.

In the disclosed embodiment, the chance device takes the form of a simulated telephone which is used by the contestants to dial or call in accordance with instructions on the cards. When the dialing has been completed, a printed message or instruction appears affecting the continued play of the game. In the disclosed embodiment, the printed instructions include a Yes, indi cating that the benefit or detriment associated with the card is to be charged to-the contestant, No indicating that the benefit or detriment associated with the card is not to be charged to the contestant, and Busy indicating that the contestant is to temporarily retain the card and dial again when his next turn arrives.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel game device which operates, at random, to control the play of a game. Another object of the invention is to provide a chance device for randomly determining the play of a game, which device contributes to the atmosphere created by the game. A further object of the invention is to provide a chance device which simulates the operation of a telephone and can be used in the game referred to above.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a device in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partially broken away sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 2.

Very generally, a device in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing 11 incorporating an indicating means constituted by an aperture 13 in one wall of the housing, which aperture provides visual access to a member 15 rotatably mounted within the housing. Also rotatably mounted in the housing 11 is an element or spindle 1'7 which is spring biased for rotation in one direction, and which, in the disclosed construction, includes a dialing disk 19. The spindle 17 is mounted so as to drive the member 15 in a manner such as to cause the member to rotate through a randomly determined angular displacement. A series of messages or images 21 are provided on the surface of the member 15, which member is positioned as it comes to rest so as to provide for alignment of any one of the messages 21 with the aperture 13. In the disclosed construction, a single means 20 is utilized to drivingly connect the spindle 17 and member 15, and also to provide for proper registration of any one of the messages 21 with the aperture 13.

More particularly, the base or housing 11 is of a generally hollow construction and includes an inclined and generally oval top wall 23 and a generally vertical side wall 25 extending downwardly from its perimeter. In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, the housing 11 is formed to resemble a telephone of contemporary design, and is adapted to cradle a simulated receiver (not shown) adjacent its upper wall 23. The appearance of the housing may of course be varied to conform to the atmosphere which the game attempts to create without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the disclosed construction, the member 15 is rotatably mounted on the spindle 17 which, in turn, is mounted within the housing 11. In this regard, the spindle 17 is journaled at its downward end in a supporting plate 27 which extends between opposing side wall portions within the housing, and at its upper end, the spindle 17 is journaled in a central opening 29 in the top wall of the housing.

Surrounding the opening 29 is a plateau 31 which is of relatively small diameter and provides a bearing surface for the dialing disk 19 which is secured to the upper end of the spindle 17. The dialing disk 19, which will be described in further detail hereinafter, provides a means whereby the spindle 17 may be rotated incident to the operation of the device. Provided on the upper surface of that portion of the top wall 23 which surrounds the plateau 31 and which underlies the dialing disk 19 is a plurality of circumferentially spaced dialing signals 33 which, in the illustrated embodiment, designate various persons and locations to which a call may be placed.

The top wall 23 also includes the aperture 13 which is located in spaced relation to the journal opening 25! and in underlying relation to the dialing disk 19. As previously set forth, the aperture 13 provides visual access to the interior of the housing and, in particular, to the messages 21 on the rotatable member 15;

The dialing disk 19 is similar to that used in conventional telephones and may be secured in any suitable manner to the upper end of the spindle 17. It includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 35 engageable by a finger of the operating contestant, each of which openings is positioned, when the dialing disk is at rest, in alignment with one of the signals 33 provided on the surface of the top wall in a manner similar to the relative arrangement of numbers and dial openings in a telephone. An aperture 37, which aperture is alignable, when the dialing disk is at rest, with the aperture 13 of the top wall so as to facilitate viewing of the messages on the second member, is also provided in the dialing disk 19 near the perimeter thereof.

The lower surface of the dialing disk 19 includes a slight downwardly projecting plateau 39 which cooperates with the plateau 31 on the upper surface of the top wall 23 to provide inter-engaging bearing surfaces on the wall and disk. A finger stop l-ll similar to that used on telephones, is provided on the upper surface of the housing and is bent into a partially overlying position relative to the dialing disk 19 wherein it will be engaged by the finger of a contestant when the disk is rotated and thereby limit the initial degree of rotation of the member 15 each time the device is dialed.

In order to provide for rapid rotation of the spindle 17 after a particular signal has been dialed, the spindle is biased for counterclockwise rotation by means 43 which is in the form of a coil spring. Such rotation of the spindle imparts a corresponding rotation of the member 15 so that, after abrupt halting of the dial in its normal position, i.e., a position in which the apertures 13 and 37 are aligned, the member 15 is permitted to freely rotate on the spindle and thus permit a random message selection. The coil spring 43 encircles the lower end of the spindle and is attached thereto at one of its ends 45. The other end 47 of the spring 43 is anchored in an opening 49 provided in the supporting plate 27 to thus insure relative movement of opposite ends of the spring when the spindle is dialed.

In order to locate the normal position of the dialing disk 19, in which the openings 35 are in alignment with the dialing signals 33, and in which the apertures 13 and 37 are in alignment with one another, a stop means is provided. In this regard, the stop means also serves to limit rotation of the spindle to less than one turn in either direction, and includes a circular flange 53 which extends radially outwardly from the spindle 17 approximately centrally thereof. The flange 53 has a diameter suflicient to bring its perimeter immediately adjacent a side wall 25 of the housing, and a lug 55 is provided on the perimeter of the flange 53, and a similar lug 57 is provided on the inner surface of the housing wall. The lugs 55 and 57 are positioned so as to interengage one another and thereby determine the normal or at-rest position of the spindle 17 and hence, the dialing disk 19.

The illustrated embodiment of the toy also includes a sound-producing means which simulates the dialing sound of a conventional telephone and thus adds to the realism of the toy. The means includes a cylindrical skirt 61 depending downwardly from the flange 53 and in adjacent and surrounding relation to the lower end of the spindle 17. The outer surface of the skirt 61 is provided with a plurality of parallel and generally vertical teeth 63 which are contacted by a metal finger 65 disposed on the end of a resilient Wire 67. When the pin rotates, the finger 65 moves across the teeth 63 and provides a clicking sound similar to that produced when a telephone is dialed.

The member 15 is, as already mentioned, freely rotatable on the upper portion of the spindle 17 and constitutes a generally circular disk 69 on which the messages 21 are printed. On its upper surface, the disk 69 includes a centrally located plateau 71 which provides a bearing surface for engagement with the lower surface of the top wall 23 of the housing 11. Depending from the disk 69 is a hub 73 which serves to elevate the disk 69 from the flange 53 of the spindle and to co-operate with the before-mentioned spring 43 which serves to drive the 4 member 15 with the spindle l7 and also to insure proper registration of the messagest21 with the aperture 13.

In this regard, the outer surface of the hub 73 which extends downwardly from the disk 69 is provided with a plurality of triangularly-shaped projections 75 having sides 77 which slope relative to one another at an obtuse angle (FIG. 4) and define therebetween a plurality of detents '79. It will be noted that six such detents are provided and that they are spaced approximately 60 from one another so as to correspond to the number and relative position of the messages 21 provided on the surface of the disk 69.

The element Ztl, which drivingly connects the member 15 and spindle 17, comprises a resilient wire 81 curved to form an arc portion 83 which is of approximately 90 and is equal in length to approximately one-fourth the circumference of the flange 53 of the spindle 17. The are portion 83 is positioned adjacent the rim of the flange and is provided at one end with an extension 85 which curves inwardly slightly and is secured to the upper surface of the flange 53 as by a block 87. The opposite end of the arc portion 83 is provided with an extension 89 which is bent inwardly toward the center of the flange and has a circular slug 91 fixed thereto. The slug 91 is of such diameter as to occupy a substantial portion of any one of the detents 79, thus providing driving engagement between the member 115 and spindle 17 when the spindle is rotating. However, due to the slope of the detent side walls 77 and the circular shape of the slug 91, the engagement between the slug and detent is sufficiently unstable so that disengagement is easily effected when the movement of the flange 53 is abruptly halted by engagement of the lugs and 57.

After disengagement of the driving connection between the members, the engagement of the slug 91 with the hub 73 provides a drag effect which eventually halts the member 15. In addition, the means 20 and detents 79 also serve, as the member 15 comes to a halt, to provide for registration of any one of the messages 21 with the aperture 13.

In the operation of the device, the dialing disk 19 is dialed by a contestant, thereby driving the member 15 with the spindle 17 due to the engagement between the slug 91 and the detent '79, and thereby also tensioning the spring 43. When the contestant removes his finger from a dial opening 35, the spindle 17 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction at relatively rapid speed by the biasing means 43, causing the member 15 to again rotate with the spindle but in the reverse direction. When the lug 55 on the perimeter of the flange 53 contacts the lug 5'7 on the housing wall 25, rotation of the spindle 17 is abruptly V halted.

The abrupt halting of the spindle results in the disengagement of the slug 91 from the previously engaged detent, thereby permitting continued rotation of the first member. Subsequently, when the speed of the first member has diminished sufiiciently, the slug 91 will re-engage one of the detents and locate a message in registration with the aperture. The message selected is independent of the initial position of the member 15 and of the signal which is dialed. Also, since the dial will be started from a variety of positions during the course of the game, the tension on the spring 43 will vary with each starting position, thereby further increasing the random selectivity of the device. Hence, dialing of the same signal several times in succession will generally not result in the selection of the same message, and there is no way of determining in advance the indicated message or instruction. The device thus operates to randomly provide one of several messages or instructions suitable for regulating continued play of the game.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A random selection device for use in a game involving an element of chance, which device comprises a housing, one wall of which includes an aperture, a spindle rotatably mounted within said housing, a coil spring encircling said spindle and biasing said spindle for rotation in a given direction, means for selectively effecting any one of several degrees of rotation of said spindle in a direction opposite to said given direction so as to cock said spring for subsequent biased rotation of said spindle in said given direction, means for automatically abruptly halting rotary movement of said spindle in said given direction, a member rotatably carried on said spindle within said housing and having a plurality of messages disposed on the surface thereof in spaced relation to one another and individually alignable with said aperture, and means connecting said spindle and member causing said member to rotate with said spindle but permitting said member to continue to rotate independently when rotation of said spindle is halted abruptly, said connecting means comprising a plurality of detents provided on the surface of one of said spindle and member, and means connected to the other of said spindle and member for engaging any one of said detents, said latter mentioned means being disengageable from said detent when rotation of said spindle is halted abruptly thereby permitting said member to rotate independently of said spindle, said means being subsequently re-engageable with any one of said detents after a random degree of independent rotation of said member so as to arrest movement of said member in a position in which one of said messages is aligned with said aperture.

2. A toy telephone adapted to function as a random selection device for use in a game involving an element of chance, which device comprises a hollow base having an aperture in one wall thereof, a spindle rotatably mounted within said base and journaled in one wall thereof and having one of its ends projecting therethrough, a coil spring encircling said spindle and biasing said spindle b for rotation in a given direction, a dialing disk fixed to said projecting end of said spindle and a finger stop fixed to said base in partially overlying relation to said disk for selectively effecting any one of several degrees of rotation of said spindle in a direction opposite to said given direction so as to cock said spring incident to release of said spindle for biased rotation in said given direction, means for abruptly halting rotary movement of said spindle in said given direction, a member rotatably carried on said spindle within said housing and having a plurality of messages provided on the surface thereof in spaced relation to one another and individually alignable with said aperture, means connecting said spindle and member causing said member to rotate with said spindle but permitting said member to continue to rotate independently when rotation of said spindle is halted abruptly, said connecting means comprising a plurality of detents provided on the surface of one of said spindle and member and means connected to the other of said spindle and member for engaging any one of said detents, said latter mentioned means being disengageable from said detent when rotation of said spindle is halted abruptly thereby permitting said member to rotate independently of said spindle, said means being subsequently re-engageable with any one of said detents after a random degree of independent rotation of said member so as to arrest movement of said member in a position in which one of said messages is aligned with said aperture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 802,782 Porter et a1. Oct. 24, 1905 2,907,123 McMahon Oct. 6, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 398,098 Germany July 3, 1924 370,019 Italy Apr. 5, 1939 

1. A RANDOM SELECTION DEVICE FOR USE IN A GAME INVOLVING AN ELEMENT OF CHANCE, WHICH DEVICE COMPRISES A HOUSING, ONE WALL OF WHICH INCLUDES AN APERTURE, A SPINDLE ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING, A COIL SPRING ENCIRCLING SAID SPINDLE AND BIASING SAID SPINDLE FOR ROTATION IN A GIVEN DIRECTION, MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY EFFECTING ANY ONE OF SEVERAL DEGREES OF ROTATION OF SAID SPINDLE IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO SAID GIVEN DIRECTION SO AS TO COCK SAID SPRING FOR SUBSEQUENT BIASED ROTATION OF SAID SPINDLE IN SAID GIVEN DIRECTION, MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY ABRUPTLY HALTING ROTARY MOVEMENT OF SAID SPINDLE IN SAID GIVEN DIRECTION, A MEMBER ROTATABLY CARRIED ON SAID SPINDLE WITHIN SAID HOUSING AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF MESSAGES DISPOSED ON THE SURFACE THEREOF IN SPACED RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER AND INDIVIDUALLY ALIGNABLE WITH SAID APERTURE, AND MEANS CONNECTING SAID SPINDLE AND MEMBER CAUSING SAID MEMBER TO ROTATE WITH SAID SPINDLE BUT PERMITTING 